I'm so glad I finally got to try this place. Everything was great, from the vibes, to the service…read moreand the food! I have also been looking for a sushi that incorporates lemon for a long time now...I was so excited to see that O-ku had one! I had the crispy rice, edamame, salmon & lemon maki, and clouds of white cocktail. I genuinely loved everything; even the tastes I tried of my friend's dishes and cocktails too. The sushi was fresh and some of the best I've had in Raleigh. This place is super cute and cozy. A great atmosphere for a date night or night out with a group. I'll be back for sure.

Let me tell you the WAYYYSSS I love this place: Quality…read moreSushi & ingredients Delicious appetizers ‍ Friendly staffers who go ABOVE & BEYOND I love sushi, but it can be expensive and spending a lot of money on bad sushi is no bueno! I was having a hard time finding a place in Raleigh that served quality ingredient sushi & was worth the price for the quantity. We found ourselves at O-Ku after a friend recommended this place as her favorite sushi in Raleigh. Immediately was impressed, as we came for my birthday & the staff signed a birthday card for me and gave me a surprise dessert. Excellent service! On my 2 year wedding anniversary we came back again bc we loved the sushi the first time and wanted to have delicious food on our special night. The staff once again surprised us with flowers on the table, a special printed menu that said 2nd year Anniversary & a dessert to go. This place is absolutely stunning inside as well. Beautiful restaurant, they also have an intimate outdoor patio with pretty lights. Highly recommend this place for a special occasion or even just a night out if you're looking for the best sushi in Raleigh! Love ya, O-Ku -- we'll be back!

Today was my 3rd lunch visit at City Market Sushi. The first time I went I ordered the San Bento…read moreBox and loved it so much I've ordered it every time I've been back! Every bite is delicious and fresh - seaweed squid salad, 3 slices of sashimi, 2 pc nigiri, 4 pc spicy tuna roll, eel on rice, and my favorite, the hamachi jalapeño. I think their specialty rolls are on the smaller side for the cost but they're delicious! Unagi Dragon Roll ($21) - the eel on top of each slice is a little crispy. It's so good! Truffle Hamachi Roll ($19) - soft shell crab and cucumber roll topped with spicy yellow tail and crispy garlic chips Service is always outstanding! Parking on the street is extremely limited but there is a large parking garage ($1/hr) around the corner on S. Blount St.

TLDR: Tasty Food, okay service, not the best description of the food…read more Went for dinner for the first time today. We were able to make a reservation easily online through their site. Arrives at 6pm on a Friday night, not too busy! The place started to fill up by 7pm. I wanted to know what sushi came in the nigiri plate order and the server refused to ask the kitchen which was really weird that they couldn't tell us what we were going to be eating and we had to wait until the plate would be in front of us? I really wanted uni and chose the restaurant because it had uni on the menu only to be told they almost never have it. We ordered: Ika geso - 10/10 loved this dish Truffle roll - so tasty but there was no truffle, it tasted like a kimchi roll We ordered some nigiri, fish was all very fresh and delicious Rainbow roll - this was a great roll, 10/10 delicious flavors. I think the flavors of the food were really great, but it's pretty pricey, and the service could have been better.

The Restaurant week menu was great!…read more Flounder/Sea bass/Dessert option was a recommendation and was amazing. Service, and community make this restaurant one of the top in Raleigh.

Five stars, no hesitation…read more I heard about Sono Sushi through Resy and finally made it in. It's located in downtown Raleigh on Fayetteville Street, right next to the ABC 11 studios, easy to find and a great spot if you're already downtown. The ambiance is great and fits the food well. There's a nice mix of seating, tables along the windows looking out onto the street, high top tables, traditional dining tables, and a sushi bar if you want to sit up close and watch everything being made. It feels lively without being loud, and works well whether you're there for a date night or a more casual meal. We started with the Aburi appetizer, torched salmon belly, ooba, salmon roe, Japanese seabream, yuzu kosho, and ponzu, and it was outstanding. Everything worked together perfectly, rich, bright, and balanced. I also ordered ikura and ebi, even though I meant to order ama ebi, but no regrets there. Still excellent. We shared the Poke Roll with wakame, avocado, cucumber, mango, tuna, salmon, hamachi, and Sono poke sauce, and it was very good, fresh, flavorful, and well composed without being overdone. My wife ordered the spicy miso ramen and loved it. The broth was the star, deep and comforting, and the pork chashu pieces were massive, in a good way. I went with the chicken katsu curry, panko fried chicken thigh with house curry and koshihikari rice, something I haven't had since Little Tokyo in LA a few years ago, and it tasted like home. Comforting, familiar, and exactly what I was hoping for. For drinks, I ordered the "SONO? SO-YES!" entirely because of the name, but also because I love blood orange. Casamigos Blanco tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, coconut cream, simple syrup, and blood orange juice, it was excellent. My only complaint is that I wanted more of it. My wife got the Okinawa Spritz, a play on an Aperol spritz with passionfruit, and it was even better than the original. We finished with the yuzu cheesecake. I debated between that and the ube cheesecake, but since this is a Japanese restaurant, yuzu felt right, and it absolutely delivered. Overall, everything from the food to the drinks hit. This is a place I would happily return to, and honestly, I'm already looking forward to the next visit.

Had a phenomenal experience from start to finish. The interior is darker, decorated with sleek…read morebubble accents that created a romantically modern ambiance. Even the restroom reflected an impressive attention to detail- immaculately maintained and elevated with amenities such as lotion, Q-tips, and climate control. This spot is good for a fancy date night! My husband opted for the lunch special, which included soup, salad, curry, and a side of sushi. He absolutely raved about the curry. I chose the fish wontons alongside the Raleigh roll, which was exceptional; the addition of mango on top was perfect with the lobster tempura for me. I am also always appreciative when a sushi place can accommodate my addiction to add cream cheese to any roll- they made it work! Service was prompt and attentive. The green tea leaned slightly earthy for my taste, but it did little to detract from an otherwise outstanding meal. I would gladly return and recommend this spot to groups seeking high-quality sushi in a polished setting.

I love Ajisai. It's one of my go to spots for sushi in the downtown Raleigh area. The have a good…read moreselection of rolls to choose from but also offer a lot of other items. The sushi for 2 is definitely a great value. Plenty of food for two people. The food not only tastes good but also looks good. I like their presentation. Definitely try their wasabi tuna dumpling!

The food was great. The vibe and our server Roxanne were also amazing. So glad we went to Umiya.read more

Roxanne was absolutely amazing! This place is always great whenever we come but she made it peak…read moretonight!

Great start to loving Japanese dishes! My husband and I made a 7:45 pm reservation on a Saturday,…read moreand sat in the main dining room. Little light tapers stood in the middle of the table. Not too bright nor dim. Our waiter, Dylan, really treated us well. Before we ordered anything, Dylan gave us each a very, warm terry-cloth wash cloth for our face and hands. Nice touch. We just had water to drink, but that's okay. My husband's entree was very spicy! We began with the Shrimp & Vegetable Tempura. The shrimp was quite fresh, and the flavor gave a great mouthful of taste and some oiliness (but, not dripping). Flavor! Also, we ordered Negimaki, which are grilled beef-wrapped scallions with teriyaki sauce. One bite is the way to eat those. Love the chopsticks, too. We were each served Miso Soup and two small salads (with ginger dressing). Sure did like that (the soup had good flavor, but was a bit salty for our tastes.) My entree was Teriyaki. I am not familiar with a lot of Japanese dishes, but I do know this flavor. I ordered the Steak. This came with stir fried vegetables with a good flavor of cabbage. I liked those. White rice completed my dish. My husband ordered the Spicy Seafood Udon. This proved to be more spicy than it appeared. This dish included vegetables, udon noodles, shrimp, hokkaido scallops, squid, green mussels, in a savory & spicy garlic butter sauce. We had food leftover, so we got some containers and packed them for home. We will come back here, and perhaps eat outside (sure, the view is of a parking lot), but the high tables and the torchieres give it a nice atmosphere - perhaps as the weather turns cooler, we will enjoy being outside. We spent over $100 without alcohol. Prepare for that, but, it's worth the drive and it's worth your time and money.

We celebrated my husband's birthday at Waraji last night and he was absolutely in Heaven. He raved…read moreabout the sushi as did our friends that we went with. They all said it was the best sushi they've ever had. I was super impressed by the expansive drink menu. I ordered a nice red blend and plan to order a Sake flight next time. I loved the atmosphere and didn't realize it was so big inside. Our server was super nice and helpful when ordering. I ordered the teriyaki chicken without onions and our server was so awesome that she let me know that the ginger dressing on my salad contained onions. She wanted to make sure I didn't have an allergy. How amazing?! The chicken teriyaki and the veggies it was served with were absolutely AMAZING! Seriously, IDK what they did to those veggies but this may have been the best meal I've ever had! They gave my husband a scoop of mango icecream with a candle in it for his birthday. Love that! We are looking forward to our next visit to Waraji.

I love Yatai Market. It located in the Transfer Co food hall in Downtown Raleigh and serves asian…read morefusion food. I've been there a couple of times now and it was always a good experience. Their sushi rolls are always fresh and good quantity. They tend to go heavy on the sauce on the rolls so I ask light sauce which is perfect. My favorite items that I will recommend are the Raleighs Best, Chicken Karaage Buns and the Birria Buns. They also have different daily specials from Ramen to wine/sake or beer. I definitely recommend Yatai Market!!

Got the quesabirria taco and the let's roll. Roll was good, but there was no tail on the tempura…read moreshrimp which surprised me. I'm guessing some people would like that, but I missed it. It was drowning in the sauces so I just wiped it off, but good nonetheless. The quesabirria taco was SO good. So crispy. Flavorful. I'll be back soon and continue dreaming of that taco!!! Service was professional and polite.

The food and service were good. The ramen is delicious the tea eggs are some of the best I've had…read moreand our server was really nice

The have tough figures of Godzilla…read more Me and the boys are a crap ton and it was amazing Eat the dumpling